Ning Rongrong truly lived up to her reputation as the most talented disciple in the entire history of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. The sect spared no expense in investing resources in her development, particularly with whale collagen, which she had probably consumed to the point of developing an aversion to its taste.
The initial use of whale collagen typically yielded remarkable results for any Soul Master. However, after Yang Xiong had used it repeatedly over time, the effects were not as pronounced as during his first consumption. Of course, considering Yang Xiong's young age, he had only used century-old whale collagen regularly, and he had tried the millennium-old version only once. As for the ten-thousand-year whale collagen, Yang Xiong remained hesitant to attempt it. Nevertheless, his physical fitness and soul power had improved to some extent through consistent use.
Ning Rongrong possessed innate soul power of level nine. At the age of six, she had become a Soul Master and absorbed her first soul ring. By the time she reached just over nine years old, she had already achieved level twenty. It seemed that whale collagen had produced a significant impact on her development, and her rate of improvement was already comparable to Tang San, who possessed full innate soul power.
Meanwhile, Yang Xiong had only reached level fifteen. Excluding the advantages gained from soul rings, he was lagging behind by five full levels. The gap in soul power between the two had actually grown larger than when they first awakened their martial souls. However, within their entire class, he was not performing the worst. At minimum, his ability to absorb soul rings beyond normal age limits could compensate for the difference between him and his classmates.
However, since Yang Xiong had begun researching the Spiral Pill several months earlier, he had become somewhat lost in his development efforts.
Ning Rongrong, serving as the class's little devil and self-appointed big sister, naturally wanted to show off her achievement of being the first student in their grade to break through to the Great Soul Master rank.
After she absorbed her second soul ring and reached level twenty-two, apparently having absorbed a soul ring beyond normal limits, her proud little demeanor made her look down condescendingly at everyone else in the class.
Yang Xiong had also witnessed the truly terrifying amplification capabilities of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda firsthand.
As a top-tier auxiliary martial soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda inherently provided a ten percent amplification effect. With each additional soul ring absorbed, it could amplify another attribute while simultaneously increasing the amplification effect of all previously enhanced attributes by another ten percent.
Moreover, the amplification provided by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could ignore the foundation strength of its target. Regardless of how large the difference in power between the amplification target and the owner of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, the magnitude of the amplification remained fixed. The amplification effect was not influenced by the quality of the soul ring, but higher quality soul rings reduced the soul power consumption when using soul skills.
This meant that absorbing soul rings beyond normal limits resulted in higher quality rings, and whale collagen produced even better effects on owners of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul than anyone had originally imagined.
Although Ning Rongrong possessed only two soul rings, she could simultaneously amplify multiple people with excellent results, even without consuming excessive amounts of her own soul power reserves.
Observing Ning Rongrong amplifying others during a demonstration, Yang Xiong experienced a sudden flash of inspiration. He skipped his regular class and went directly to the seventh floor of the library, opening a book that he had always previously underestimated.
Yang Xiong had examined almost every book on the top floor of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's library. Anything placed on this floor was definitely a priceless treasure, but Yang Xiong had never shown much interest in the text about Distraction Control, always feeling that his Body Martial Soul would not require this particular aspect of training.
However, at this moment, Yang Xiong opened the book on Distraction Control as if he had discovered a hidden treasure, and his entire perspective instantly became enlightened.
Compared to the Clear Sky Hammer Sect's Clear Sky Nine Absolutes and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's Dragon Transformation techniques, Distraction Control was not particularly famous. It could even be argued that it was not unique to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, but the sect had developed this technique to its absolute extreme, considering it one of their supreme cultivation methods.
In the following period, Yang Xiong temporarily abandoned his development of the Spiral Pill and instead began practicing Distraction Control intensively.
The essence of Distraction Control was multitasking at the highest level. The first step required achieving dual-mindedness, and at the ultimate level, it demanded septuple-mindedness. Only top experts like Ning Fengzhi could simultaneously provide seven different amplifications to other people while maintaining precise control of soul power to achieve minimal consumption and maximum amplification effects.
In a fundamental sense, Distraction Control tested mental strength even more than physical capabilities, and it also examined a Soul Master's precise control over soul power manipulation.
The Distraction Control technique was divided into specific stages: Three Aperture Control Heart, Four Aperture Constant Heart, Five Aperture Scattered Heart, Six Aperture Wishful Heart, and Seven Aperture Exquisite Heart. Each stage corresponded perfectly to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, making it the most suitable soul skill for Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Masters. Unfortunately, the secret manual in the library did not contain the final two levels.
However, the available information proved sufficient for Yang Xiong's current stage of development. What he desired most was precise control over his soul power, and Yang Xiong had also conceived a different approach, developing his own cultivation method.
Yang Xiong began using his soul power in his palms during medicinal baths, manipulating the energy in his hands according to the direction of water flow in the tub. He attempted to make the soul power become more regular and controlled, or rather, trying to make his soul power manipulation more refined and detailed.
The deeper Yang Xiong researched Distraction Control, the more impressed he became with its potential. Although Distraction Control might not necessarily possess overwhelming destructive power, the level of soul power control it required was extremely demanding. Simply from the perspective of soul power precision, Ning Fengzhi might actually be stronger than many Titled Douluos in terms of technical control.
After studying intensively for several months, Yang Xiong's Distraction Control had reached the first level, achieving the realm of Three Aperture Control Heart.
On this particular day, Yang Xiong placed a water-filled balloon in front of him. The balloon was only the size of his palm. Yang Xiong summoned his Body Martial Soul and held the balloon carefully with both hands. Transparent soul power appeared in both hands simultaneously, and the two streams of energy actually cooperated with each other to act upon the balloon. The balloon slowly levitated from Yang Xiong's hands, and the water inside the entire balloon began to rotate according to a specific pattern.
As more and more soul power was injected into the process, the balloon became increasingly agitated, and the water inside actually rotated like a miniature vortex. The entire balloon surface began to bulge and distort under the pressure created by the internal water flow rotation.
This process consumed enormous amounts of soul power and mental strength. Just when Yang Xiong's mental reserves and soul power were about to reach their limits, the balloon actually exploded directly, and all the water contained within burst outward like a small bomb.
Yang Xiong felt genuinely pleased with this result. "Success! The first stage of research has finally been completed. It appears that my theory was correct. The fundamental essence of soul power and chakra are the same - they are both forms of energy that exist within the body. Perhaps I will be able to open up an entirely new path within the Soul Master world in the future."
Currently, Yang Xiong remained quite weak and could only control the rotation of soul power through his hands, but he firmly believed that with dedicated cultivation, he would definitely be able to improve gradually and eventually develop what might become the most terrifying soul skill in the entire Soul Master world.
When Yang Xiong had fully adapted to the cultivation method using water-filled balloons, he immediately began the next stage of development, which involved training with leather balls.
Compared to the water-filled balloon cultivation, the hardness of leather balls was approximately one hundred times greater than balloons. This training stage would test not only the precision of soul power control but also the raw strength and density of his soul power.
Once the leather ball training was completed successfully, the real cultivation of the Douluo version of the Spiral Pill would become a natural progression. Yang Xiong felt increasingly confident that his unconventional approach to technique development would eventually yield extraordinary results that could revolutionize Soul Master combat methods.
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